Tyler Willson

Novella

Tyler Willson has been a lot of places, and done a lot of things. In order to provide for his wonderful wife and four (practically...) perfect children Tyler has worked as a ditch digger, preschool teacher, telephone survey taker, hand-truck builder, forklift driver, combat engineer, finance clerk, training manager, help desk analyst, database administrator, logistical overseer, and IT manager...
Still, in his dreams, he is always a writer.

Cliff is a loser. His wife married him just to have someone to torture and control. His father-in-law would love to see him dead, and the prisoners at the Death Valley Penitentiary would be more than happy to make it happen...

Conclusion. Cliff finds himself all alone in the middle of the desert, tracking the armed and dangerous killer with no food or water, and a shotgun with only one shell. As the desert wears away at him and the prisoner, will Cliff find the inner strength to finally succeed at something?

Suspicious of magic, the mercenary soldier Raka keeps his distance from its practitioners as much as possible. Until the feeble old shaman named Ol' Bob gives him a trinket in thanks for a good deed and his opinion begins to change... (Originally appeared 2008-12-29)

Essay

Tyler Willson has been a lot of places, and done a lot of things. Raised on a dirt farm in a town called Elmo, Utah (population: 312 - including dogs and cattle...) Tyler made a spur of the moment decision that resulted in eight years of service in the US Army as a combat engineer. Leaving the Army to make his fortune in the technology sector, he finished school just in time to experience the dot-com collapse firsthand. As a civilian defense contractor he has drug his family all over the continent, finally landing in the verdant hills of Northern Virginia. In order to provide for his wonderful wife and five (practically...) perfect children Tyler has worked as a ditch digger, preschool teacher, telephone survey taker, hand-truck builder, forklift driver, combat engineer, finance clerk, training manager, help desk analyst, database administrator, logistical overseer, and IT manager.
Still, in his dreams he is always a writer.